Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Kills Iowa Girl

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, May 19, 2003

A father who went to get help after his sport utility vehicle got stuck along a water-logged rural road returned to find his wife and five children unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning. His oldest child, a 9-year-old girl, died later at a hospital.

Cassandra Huff, 9, died Monday, the day after the accident, sheriff's officials said. The other children, ages 8, 4, 3 and 16 months, remained in guarded condition, the family said Monday. The mother, Debra Maier, 29, was released from the hospital.

The family's 1989 Chevrolet Suburban became stuck along a flooded gravel road near the Iowa River on Sunday night, the sheriff's office said. The road passes through a wildlife refuge, which is part of a flood plain.

The father, Clifton Maier, also 29, left to look for help and came across two hunters. The three returned to the stuck vehicle, which had been left running.

One of the men, Jake Williams, a volunteer with the Fairfax Fire Department, said when they opened the doors to get the family out, Maier began to panic.

"That got us going. He goes, 'I need help. My kids are unconscious. Everybody's unconscious,'" Williams said. "He had the door open right there and just handed them to me. We were laying them down on the road."

"I don't see how it could happen that fast," Williams said. "I mean, the windows were down … the exhaust was still coming out the tailpipe."

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Detective Bob Dolezal declined to give details about how investigators believe the carbon monoxide got into the vehicle.

Hospital officials said Tuesday they were unable to release information about when Maier was released or update the condition of the children.